Electric power generation is increasingly affected by issues of global climate change and energy security. Carbon capture and sequestration technologies are being developed to reduce the environmental impact of fossil and biomass-fueled cycles. Advanced cycles are being considered that increase efficiency by using carbon dioxide, or CO₂-rich mixtures with other gases, as a working fluid instead of steam. In all of these cases, the thermophysical properties of carbon dioxide and its mixtures with other gases (particularly water) are a key to effective process design. Opportunities exist to improve the available data for these mixtures by a variety of means, ranging from the molecular level (computational chemistry and molecular simulation) to the development of state-of-the-art equations of state and transport property correlations. We work closely with other researchers at NIST and around the world to combine theory and experiment in order to obtain the best possible descriptions of these industrially important systems.

 

key words

Carbon dioxide; Energy; Fossil fuels; Greenhouse gases; Power cycles; Sequestration; Thermodynamics; Transport properties; Water;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral applicants